I wondered what would have happened if Edgar had gone through the hedges about ten minutes earlier. Probably he wouldn't have been sitting here now. I wondered if that had crossed his mind. I asked him, "How do you think the murderer got away if you didn't hear or see a car or boat?"

"Well, I thought about that."

"And?"

"Well, there's a lot of people around here that walk, bicycle, jog and all. You know? I don't think anybody would take notice of anybody doin' any of that."

"Right." But a jogger with an ice chest on his head might attract attention. There was a good chance the murderer was still somewhere in the area when Edgar came upon the bodies.

I left the time and scene of the murder and began another line of questions. I asked Mrs. Murphy, "Did the Gordons have much company?"

She replied, "A fair amount. They did a lot of cooking outside. Always had a few people over."

Beth asked Edgar, "Did they take the boat out late?"

"Sometimes. Hard to miss them engines. Sometimes they'd come in real late."

"How late is late?"

"Oh, like two, three in the morning." He added, "Night fishing, I guess."

One can fish from a Formula 303, as I'd done a few times with the Gordons, but a Formula 303 is not a fishing boat, as I'm sure Edgar knew. But Edgar was from the old school and believed that no one should speak badly of the dead-unless pressed.

We went round and round, asking about the Gordons' habits, about strange cars, and so forth. I'd never worked with Beth Penrose, of course, but we were on the same wavelength, we played a good duet.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Murphy opined, "They were a real good-looking couple."

I picked up the hint and asked, "Do you think he had a girlfriend?"

"Oh… I didn't mean-"

"Did she have a boyfriend?"

"Well…"

"When he wasn't home, she would have a gentleman caller. Correct?"

"Well, I'm not saying it was a boyfriend or anything."

"Tell us about it."

And she did, but it wasn't all that juicy. Once, back in June, when Tom was at work and Judy was home, a good-looking, well-dressed, and bearded gentleman came over in a white sports car of indeterminate make and left an hour later. Interesting, but not evidence of a torrid affair that could lead to a crime of passion. Then, a few weeks ago, on a Saturday when Tom was out in his boat, a man pulled into the driveway with a "green Jeep," went into the backyard where Mrs. Gordon was sunning in a teeny weenie bikini, took his shirt off, and sunned next to her for a while. Mrs. Murphy said, "I don't think that's right when the husband's not home. I mean, she was half naked, and this feller pulls off his shirt and lays down right next to her, and they're just chatting away, then he gets up and leaves before the husband comes back. Now what was that all about?"

I replied, "It was perfectly innocent. I stopped by to see Tom about something."

Mrs. Murphy looked at me, and I could feel Beth's eyes on me, too. I said to Mrs. Murphy, "I was a friend of the Gordons."

"Oh…"

Mr. Murphy chuckled up at the ceiling. He informed me, "My wife's got a dirty mind."

"Me, too." I asked Mrs. Murphy, "Did you ever socialize with the Gordons?"

"We had them here to dinner once when they first moved in about two years ago. They had us over for a barbeque right after. Never got together since then."

I couldn't imagine why. I asked Mrs. Murphy, "Did you know any of their friends by name?"

"No. I expect they were mostly Plum Island people. They're a strange bunch of ducks, if you want my opinion."

And so on. They loved to talk. Mrs. Murphy rocked, Mr. Murphy played with the lever on the chair and kept changing inclines. During one of his flat-out positions, he asked me, "What'd they do? Steal a whole bunch of germs to wipe out the world?"

"No, they stole a vaccine that's worth a lot of money. They wanted to be rich."

"Yeah? They was only rentin' next door. You know that?"

"Yes."

"Paym' too damn much for the house."

"How do you know?"

"I know the owner. Young feller named Sanders. He's a builder. Bought the place from the Hoffmanns, who're friends of ours. Sanders paid too much, then fixed it up and rented it to the Gordons. They paid too much rent."

Beth said, "Let me be blunt, Mr. Murphy. Some people think the Gordons were running drugs. What do you think?"

He replied without hesitation, "Could be. They was out in the boat at odd hours. Wouldn't be surprised."

I asked, "Other than the bearded man in the sports car and myself, did you ever see any suspicious types in the yard or out front?"

"Well… can't say as I have, to tell you the truth."

"Mrs. Murphy?"

"No, I don't think so. Most of the people seemed respectable. They drank too much wine… recycling bin was full of wine bottles… sometimes they got loud after they were drinking, but the music was soft-not this crazy stuff you hear."

"Did you have a key to their house?"

I saw Mrs. Murphy shoot a glance at Mr. Murphy, who was staring at the ceiling. There was a silence, then Mr. Murphy said "Yeah, we had the key. We kept an eye on the house for them because we're usually around."

"And?"

"Well… maybe last week, we saw a locksmith truck there, and when the feller left, well, I just went over to try my key and it didn't work no more. I sort of expected Tom to give me a new key, but I never got one. He's got the key to my house. You know? So, I called Gil Sanders and asked him, you know, because the owner is supposed to have the key, but he didn't know nothing about that. It's none of my business, but if the Gordons wanted me to watch over the house, I guess I should have the key." He added, "Now I'm wondering if they was hiding something in there."

"We're going to make you an honorary deputy, Mr. Murphy. Hey, don't repeat anything that was said here to anyone except Chief Maxwell. If anyone comes around claiming to be FBI, or Suffolk County police, or New York State police, or anything like that, they might be lying. Call Chief Maxwell or Detective Penrose. Okay?"

"Okay."

Beth asked Mr. Murphy, "Do you own a boat?"

"Not anymore. Too much work and money."

"Did anyone ever visit the Gordons by boat?" Beth asked.

"Now and then I'd see a boat at their dock."

"Did you know who the boats belonged to?"

"Nope. But one time it was a boat like theirs. Speedboat. But it wasn't theirs. It had a different name."

"You were close enough to see that?" I asked him.

"I sometimes watch with binoculars."

"What was the name on the boat?"

"Can't remember. But it wasn't theirs."

"Did you see anyone on board?" Beth asked.

"Nope. Just happened to notice the boat. Never saw anyone get on or off."

"When was this?"

"Let's see… about June… early in the season."

"Were the Gordons home?"

"Don't know." He added, "I watched to see who left the house, but somehow they got by me and next thing I know, I hear the engine, and the boat is heading out."

"How is your distance vision?"

"Not real good, except with the binoculars."

"And yours, Mrs. Murphy?"

"Same."

Assuming there was more binocular watching of the Gordons' property than the Murphys cared to admit, I asked them, "If we showed you photos of people, could you tell me if you've ever seen them on the Gordons' property?"

"Maybe."

I nodded. Nosy neighbors can make good witnesses, but sometimes, like a cheap surveillance video camera, nosy neighbors witness too much that is irrelevant, blurry, boring, and muffled.

We put another half hour into the questioning, but the yield was diminishing by the minute. In fact, Mr. Murphy had accomplished the near impossible by falling asleep during a police interview. His snoring was starting to get on my nerves.